Twenty-three year old Mamodu Mohammed, who was caught red-handed as he broke into a shop in Ilupeju, Lagos, has claimed that he was caught the first day he got involved in robbery.
Men of the Lagos State Police Command had nabbed Mohammed, who broke into the shop with an axe and stole wristwatches, clothes and other valuables.
In an interview when he was paraded at the command recently, Mohammed said he had always been a pick-pocket and had never been involved in robbery until he was caught.
“I know I used to do petty stealing. I used to pick pockets. I also used to steal my father’s money. Anytime he kept it somewhere, I would just go and steal it. But this is my first time of getting involved in something this serious. This shows robbery is not my destiny,” he said.
An indigene of Niger State, Mohammed said he came to Lagos four years ago and became an event decorator where he was making an average of N30, 000 for each job.
Explaining why he had to get involved in robbery, Mohammed said a friend of his introduced him to the ‘business.’
“He called me to follow him and do a ‘small business’ and I agreed. He actually briefed me what the ‘small business’ was all about. He told me the details. So, I knew we were going to break into a shop. I just had to agree knowing the risks involved in the job,” he said.
Mohammed said he didn’t have a choice but to follow his friend because he had a debt he was being forced to offset and he desperately needed the money.
He said, “That my friend had given me N5, 000 the previous day and when he came to ask me for his money, I told him I didn’t have it. He said if I didn’t give him the money, I must follow him to do the job. That was why I followed him.
“My parents don’t even know where I am. I am so sure they would feel bad about this. If I had known, I wouldn’t have got involved. We had finished robbing the shop and jumped down from the fence. My friend said I should take left while he would go right. Just as I followed his instructions, the police caught me.”
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni, said the swift response, which led to the arrest of Mohammed and recovery of his loot, shows that the police in Lagos are very proactive in combating crime in the metropolis.
He called on residents of the state to always avail the police with reliable information about crime in their domains.
No comments:
Post a Comment